Palm Foleo

PalmOS (actually LinuxOS) Super Cheap Laptop/MID/Network Computer. $500.

Cancelled before it was sold.

May30'2007 coverage (http://blogs.computerworld.com/node/5606) |part 2 May31 interview with Jeff Hawkins.

• Hawkins then discussed a theme we've heard often from Palm Execs - the difficult tradeoffs in making a Smart Phone (Mobile). A smartphone has a screen that's as large as possible, has a battery that will last throughout a full day of use, has a keyboard that's easy to type on, a processor, memory, etc. All these features have to be balanced very carefully - they limit the ways in which a smartphone can be designed. Suddenly, for Hawkins, having the Foleo allows him to make a sort of end-run around some of these issues (like the screen and keyboard, the two most-cited features of the Foleo). "I can think about these problems differently. It gives me a different palette I can use to think about apps. ... It moves the burden of email (for example, to the Foleo), frees up the balance of functionality."

• Hawkins talked about how refreshing it is for Palm to have total control of a product end-to-end. With the Foleo, there are no carrier (TelCo) restraints... "It was never meant to be a Lap Top replacement."... I asked why the device is designed to be used exclusively with a smartphone, or nearly so. Why no server-side software, no PC client for it to sync with? Hawkins talked about how the PC-side is where 90% of tech support hassles and headaches seem to occur for Palm. He's not interested in syncing with the PC, it never entered into his mind that this should be plugged into a PC. While Hawkins was discussing why he didn't think PC sync was important for the Foleo (one reason - no need for execs to even tell their IT department they're using one), I kept thinking to myself "He doesn't want to sync with the PC. He wants to eliminate it."

Aug'2008 interview with Jeff Hawkins. I think the Keyboard has to be a real keyboard. With the Foleo, we picked the smaller of two standard-sized keyboards. It would still be considered a full-sized keyboard. We essentially designed the smallest product we could around that keyboard. You really want to be able to touch type. Some of the products that are coming out, they went a little too small. Then you want a screen that's big enough to see real Web pages on full width. And you're not thinking it's a dinky screen. But you don't need to go super big, like with what Apple did with its MacBook Air product. They went too big in my opinion. It's thin, but it's too big. I can't tell you how many people showed me their small bags or their purses and they said, "If I can just fit it in this." There is a tremendous number of people who just need good Web access, good e-mail and writing (in a portable device).